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After demonstrating for a half-hour on Ebenezer Road, nine protesters entered the office and found an audience with Park Gillespie, constituent services director for the freshman representative.

"You have my word these concerns will be delivered to Congressman Mulvaney," Gillespie told the group after taking notes on what each person said.

Mulvaney will hear directly from constituents at a series of town hall meetings starting in April, Gillespie said.

Late Thursday afternoon, Mulvaney released a statement to The Herald emphasizing his commitment to cutting spending.

"I'm open to discussing specifics, but I campaigned to stop spending money we don't have," he said. "I was elected to stop spending money we don't have, and I'm going to do what I said I would do."

The protest marked a rare showing by the political left in York County.

Anti-government tea party groups held rallies last year outside the office of former Democratic U.S. Rep. John Spratt to demand spending cuts and deficit control. Mulvaney carried York County by 27 percentage points in the November election.

York County GOP Chairman Glenn McCall stopped by Thursday's protest to check the turnout.

"These folks are in the minority," he said. "I don't think anyone wants to cut programs for seniors or kids, but it's going to have to be equal sacrifice."

Lanier, a registered nurse from New Jersey, moved south to Fort Mill four years ago to join family. She's upset at N.J. Gov. Chris Christie for proposing pension cuts for public-sector workers.

"I worked all that time, put money into the pension and now they want to cut it," said Lanier, 67. "I feel that's wrong."

Curtis LeMay teaches art classes at Lewisville middle and high schools in Chester County. District administrators slashed his classroom supply budget to $300, LeMay said, forcing him to spend $2,000 of his own money on art materials.

"A lot of my kids' parents are out of work," he said. "They need supplies. They need good books."

Mulvaney: Budget in dire shape

Mulvaney believes $61 billion in cuts approved by House Republicans don't go far enough. He's part of a bloc of conservative lawmakers calling for immediate reductions of at least $100 billion.

The group seeks to reduce spending by $2.5 trillion over the next decade with cuts to education, domestic security, transportation, law enforcement and medical research. The military and major entitlement programs - Medicare and Social Security - would be excluded.

"Anybody who is up to speed on budget issues should be scared to death by what's happening with the debt and the deficit in this country," Mulvaney said in January.

Protester Peter Hildebrandt faulted Republicans for what he called a "strict father" approach that would cut programs for children and the poor while protecting tax cuts for wealthy Americans.

"They need to be viewed as the deadbeat dads who say they aren't going to pay for anything any more," he said.

Gillespie stayed away from the political tug-and-pull as he took notes in the office lobby.

"A million people died to give us the right to have this discussion," he told the group afterward.